Until Dawn Remake Developer Reportedly Shut Down

Until Dawn remake developer Ballistic Moon has been “effectively” shut down, with its entire staff save for its founders and perhaps a handful of other employees reportedly now out of a job. The 2024 remake of Until Dawn was Ballistic Moon’s first game, and if the reports are accurate, it will also likely be its last.

The release of the original Until Dawn in 2015 opened up a lot of game enthusiasts’ eyes to Supermassive Games. Previously known mainly for creating some entries in the Little Big Planet 2D platformer series, the popularity of the choices-matter interactive horror drama game helped Supermassive find its niche, sparking the creation of The Dark Pictures Anthology and the studio’s second large-scale horror drama, 2022’s The Quarry.

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Many fans were surprised when the official announcement of an Until Dawn remake in May 2024 mentioned a different developer, Ballistic Moon. Parent company Sony initially seemed to have big plans in mind for the development studio, but a report from Insider Gaming citing multiple unnamed sources now claims that almost everyone at Ballistic Moon has been laid off, including the entirety of its development, public relations, and marketing divisions. Sources quoted in that report stated that the owners had been proposing new projects and seeking to fund them, but that the shutdown would mean the end of support for Until Dawn‘s remake despite persistent complaints of bugs. The UK-based studio has made no official remarks via its website, which is badly outdated, as it still lists the Until Dawn remake as “coming soon” despite the game’s launch early last October.

Developer Ballistic Moon Has Essentially Been Shut Down

Layoffs at the development studio didn’t all come at once. In fact, the first round of layoffs hit Ballistic Moon a month before Until Dawn remake’s release, with at least a dozen of its development team members put out of work in September 2024. According to the new report, around 20 others were let go in December. The unnamed sources had generally good things to say about working for Ballistic Moon, though there were sporadic complaints of unpaid overtime.

The reported shutdown of Ballistic Moon throws some suspicion into previous teases of an Until Dawn sequel. Actor Peter Stormare, who plays Dr. Hill in the games and the movie adaptation coming in April, had previously shared a fan theory about a sequel on his Instagram account, though if a sequel is going to happen, it would likely have to either revert to being developed by Supermassive or find a new development studio altogether. Additionally, the remake was not met with as warm a reception as the original. OpenCritic lists the remake as Fair, with a Top Critic Average of 69, which is 10 points lower than the original release’s Strong score of 79.

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Released

October 4, 2024

ESRB

m

Developer(s)

Ballistic Moon

Publisher(s)

PlayStation PC LLC